Don't Call Me An Inspiration
by BadKitty17
Summary: Daniel, a young coordinator, is sick of being treated differently because of a...Feature of his. OC contest fic!


**Pokemon is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, Satoshi Tajiri, and Ken Sugimori, this fanfiction is owned by me.**

Daniel sighed as he checked his honchkrow and mightyena over one last time. _One last time,_ that's what he'd told himself twice already, after spending all morning grooming the two, and then spending half an hour deciding whether he should put that pretty leather collar he just bought on his mightyena, or whether he should just put a ribbon around her neck, like he did in his last contest...

He was feeling pretty confident that he'd be leaving Cyllage City with his third Kalos ribbon today, thanks to his weeks of hardcore training, and perfecting a risky trick that he had planned to have his pokemon do in the first round. He could only hope that today, his performance would force the audience to look at him, and not...A certain feature, if one could call it that, of his...

So far, he'd watched several coordinators perform through the screen in the backstage lounge. May, one of Hoenn's most famous coordinators, danced around the stage with her wartortle and her glaceon, receiving high praise from the judges. A Sinnoh-born coordinator—Johanna's daughter, or at least, that was how Daniel remembered her—Stood atop her mamoswine as he fired ice shards into the air, to be broken by her piplup's peck attack. Most of them received good comments from the judges, plus the obligatory 'remarkable' from Mr Sukizo.

Daniel hoped that today, his performance would get him high praise from the judges. High praise, and not...A certain label, which he hated so much...

"Entry number thirty, you're up next!"

"Got it!" Daniel replied. Ok, so now it was time...

He returned Mightyena to her pokeball, and chose a smoky seal for her entrance, snapping the ball capsule tightly shut. Next, he undid his seatbelt, and shakily stood up from his wheelchair, using a nearby table to help himself over to his Honchkrow, before he sat on the pokemon's back.

Some of the coordinators looking in Daniel's direction erupted into chatter. Daniel had heard every remark of theirs a thousand times:

"Why does he use a wheelchair if he can walk?"

"I bet he's not even disabled!"

"Do you think he fakes it to get attention?"

And he, like always, rolled his eyes. It wasn't that Daniel couldn't walk, it was just that it was dangerous for him to. He had a rare condition, which meant that his joints could dislocate at any time, and thus, it was deemed safer for him to use a wheelchair than to risk daily painful dislocations...Having some people believe that he wasn't really disabled was just one side of a bad coin, though...In fact, the coordinators who knew that he actually was disabled could be just as bad to him, if not worse...

"Are you ready, Honchkrow?" he asked his pokemon.

"Krow, krow!" the creature cried affirmatively, as they waited for the curtain to open...

"And next up, we have the talented, and inspirational young coordinator, Daniel!"

Inspirational. God, how Daniel hated that word. The mere mention of it made him sick to his stomach.

Inspirational. That was the title that Daniel got, simply for being a coordinator. Not just a coordinator, but a coordinator in a wheelchair. Somehow, his condition made his every contest entry, 'inspirational'. Everyone who believed that he really was disabled called him, 'inspirational, and 'brave', for 'overcoming the challenge of living in a wheelchair', and 'defying all expectation' by being a coordinator worth his salt. Did they think that his life was miserable, and that he would achieve nothing, simply because he was in a wheelchair? Or, did they slap the 'inspirational' label on him because they wanted to make themselves feel good? To make themselves feel superior, or lucky, because they were able bodied and he wasn't?

So, that was why today, he was putting on a first-round performance that would force everyone to pay attention to him and his pokemon, not his disability...

"Honchkrow, fly!" he commanded, and the pokemon carried him up into the air, flying him around the stadium with ease. He paid no attention to the presenter's comment about how beautiful his shiny honchkrow was, or how well-groomed the pokemon was, as he dropped Mightyena's pokeball onto the stage below.

The dog-like pokemon emerged in a puff of smoke, eliciting applause from the crowd.

"Mightyena, use hyper beam! And Honchkrow, use dark pulse!"

The hyper beam collided with the dark pulse, exploding into a pearlescent cloud. The crowd cheered as the presenter went on about how Mightyena and Honchkrow looked _so mysterious, dancing around in a wondrous cloud of light!_

"Secret power, Mightyena, and Honchkrow, use payback!"

Mightyena's secret power was destroyed in seconds by Honchkrow's payback, resulting in a sparkling purple shower. Once again, the presenter was up in arms, gushing about the _beautiful glitter raining down on the stage,_ which made Mightyena and Honchkrow look _absolutely incredible._

Now, it was time for the final move! It was risky, but if it worked...

"Psychic, Honchkrow!"

Honchkrow lifted Mightyena into the air, and flew her around the stadium, before he lifted her onto his back. Next, he landed, posing, with Mightyena and Daniel sat on his back, to finish the performance.

"Wow! What a phenomenal way to show off those pokemon!" the presenter praised, "Let's hear what our judges thought of Daniel's performance!"

Daniel waited, with bated breath for them to respond...

"Daniel did a wonderful job of showing us the strength and power of his pokemon! Truly a sight to behold!"

Good, good so far...

"Remarkable!"

Of course. Every contestant got that...Except for that girl who'd seriously messed up her performance, resulting in her eevee and her pikachu fainting on stage...

"What a thrill to see someone like Daniel show off his pokemon, and himself as well! Such a brave young man, and such an inspiration to all!"

And there it was. That last judge just _had_ to call him, 'inspirational', again, didn't she? Oh well. It was only a small hiccup. Apart from that, it seemed like the other judges were too impressed by his performance to care about his disability, and Daniel could probably count on making it to the battle rounds...

When the coordinators who'd passed round one were announced, Daniel smiled to himself as he saw his face appear on the screen, along with May, and...Johanna's daughter...He still didn't quite remember what her name was...

"...And for our first quarter-final battle, it's Daniel vs Dawn!"

Ah, so that was her name!

He decided that for round two, he'd use Serperior and Mightyena. Dawn was bound to use her piplup in the second round, so he could overpower her using Serperior's type advantage, plus, Mightyena's athleticism was bound to come in handy against her mamoswine, or her togekiss...Assuming that she chose to use one of those two...

He let Honchkrow carry him back to his wheelchair, and he grabbed the table again to help himself up—

"Hey, are you alright? Let me help you back into your wheelchair!"

And Daniel saw a girl in a purple dress—A lot like the one that Dawn always wore, except it was purple, short sleeved, and decorated with daisy-shaped pins instead of ribbons—bending down to his level, trying to put her arms around his mid-section...

"Um...Thank you, but I can manage by myself," he assured her, "I do this every day!"

The girl looked back at him, with a puzzled look on her face. "No, please, I insist," she replied, "I can't stand it, seeing someone so helpless struggle like this!"

He'd known this girl for less than five minutes, and she, somehow, was already starting to annoy him. Daniel had dealt with people like her a lot, too, during his fifteen years; the ones who thought that he couldn't do anything by himself, and who thought that they were being such perfect angels by daring to 'help' people whom they thought were incapable of helping themselves. All they did was get in Daniel's way, though, and then get all huffy when he refused their 'help'...

Daniel looked up at the screen, and saw that Dawn was already on her side of the stage, ready for their battle...

"I have to go," he said quickly, sitting back down in his wheelchair.

The girl pouted, blocking his way as she 'hmpf'-ed indignantly. "Well, excuse me for trying to do you a favour!" she cried.

As he left for the stage, Daniel could've sworn that he heard her muttering about how she _only wanted to help that poor boy out..._

After winning by a small margin, Daniel went backstage, to watch the other battles. He faced a guy with a dustox and an espeon in his semi-final battle, and won by knocking them both out, and then he went backstage again, to prepare for the final round. Thankfully, he didn't see that girl again, in fact, he couldn't see her anywhere in the backstage lounge...Oh, but maybe that meant...

"And, to decide who will face Daniel in the final round, it's May vs Sophie!" the presenter announced, on screen.

Sophie. So, the annoying girl in the purple dress had a name. Daniel couldn't decide if he wanted to face her or May in the final round; If he faced May, she'd probably look past his disability and give him a good, fair match, like she did every other coordinator, but if he faced Sophie, he could potentially be in with an easy win...After all, since she thought that he was utterly helpless, she'd probably underestimate him, and thus, wouldn't try as hard in the final round...

But, after a tough fight, it was Sophie who won the battle. Ugh, the way she played to the crowd afterwards was so annoying, blowing kisses, and declaring that loved _each and every one_ of her fans...

Daniel chose Honchkrow and Serperior for the final round, having noticed Sophie behind him, declaring loudly that she would win easily thanks to her roggenrola and meowstic...But, she also said that she couldn't possibly lose to _a helpless little boy._ This win was absolutely in the bag for Daniel...

Daniel wheeled onto his side of the stage, and sent out his pokemon...

"In the blue corner, we have the inspirational coordinator, Daniel," the presenter began.

Daniel rolled his eyes. Again, with the inspiration thing?

"And in the red corner, we have the lovely Sophie!"

 _Lovely?! That's a laugh!_

"Roggenrola, use stone edge! Meowstic, use psychic!" Sophie commanded.

Meowstic's psychic made the stone edge glow, as it flew towards Honchkrow and Serperior...

Unfazed, Daniel calmly waited until the stone edge was about to reach his pokemon. And then...

"Serperior, use vine whip," he said calmly, crossing his arms.

Serperior shot forth vines, which smacked the stones from the stone edge and sent them flying back at Meowstic and Roggenrola. Daniel looked up at the point counters, and saw that a few points had been taken from Sophie...

"Now, Honchkrow, use dark pulse on Meowstic! And Serperior, use frenzy plant on Roggenrola!"

Sophie grimaced. "Roggenrola, use flash cannon on that frenzy plant!"

And the flash cannon lit up the thorny roots from the frenzy plant, making them glow...And making Daniel lose a few points...

"Meowstic, use...Meowstic?!"

Meowstic was hit by the dark pulse, long before Sophie could even think about giving it a command...And some more of her points were taken away.

Daniel could only chuckle as he began his next chain of commands...At this rate, he would be able to win without a struggle! "Honchkrow, it's time to use payback! And Serperior, use leaf blade!"

Meowstic and Roggenrola both took huge amounts of damage, as they were hit by the attacks, and by now, Sophie had lost almost half of her points...But she was...Smiling?!

"Aw, do you really think that you can win?" she teased, "The ribbon is mine! Roggenrola, rock polish! And Meowstic, use toxic!"

Roggenrola glowed, while Meowstic poisoned Honchkrow, and Daniel's point count went down yet again! Now he was really in for it...How long would Honchkrow be able to stay up, before the poison got to him? He was gonna have to finish this up quickly, if he wanted to win...

"Honchkrow, use fly and take out meowstic! Serperior, energy ball!"

Sophie wasted no time in making her next move. "Meowstic, psybeam! Roggenrola, stone edge, again!"

Honchkrow was sent crashing to the ground as it was shot out of the air, while Serperior's energy ball was smashed into a sparkling shower by Roggenrola.

Now, both coordinators were about even in terms of points...And now, Daniel was certain that he knew just what to do to bring it home...

"Honchkrow, use dark pulse! Serperior, use vine whip again!"

The type advantage was bound to cause serious damage to Sophie's pokemon...

"And now, Honchkrow, use psychic, and Serperior, use frenzy plant!"

Sophie panicked as she looked back up at the point counter. She was losing?! But why? Daniel was supposed to just be an inspirational figure, not a coordinator who knew exactly what he was doing! How _dare_ he take the spotlight away from her!

"Roggenrola, use"—

"Time's up!"

Sophie looked at the presenter, who'd so rudely interrupted her...

"And the winner of this exciting final is...Daniel!" she declared.

Daniel's eyes lit up, as Sophie fell to the ground, humiliated. He'd actually won! And against someone that he didn't like!

As he was given his ribbon, Daniel couldn't help but laugh at the way that Sophie grumbled to herself, angry that she'd lost to someone like _him._ Well, that was what she got for underestimating him!

"Please a give hand to today's inspirational winner, Daniel!" the presenter commanded, lifting the boy's arm into the air.

Daniel rolled his eyes again. Even though he'd won, he couldn't escape that stupid label...


End file.
